The project is to shoot a ski movie in the Kazakh' Altai this December, 2026. We are looking for sponsors, details below. I personally have experience in the Altai having spent many months there, and produced a film with Nikita Melnichenko (cinematographer and editor), and the assitance of East Pole Outdoor Company.
Therefore all the logistics are already settled, I know where the good quality snow is, when to go, who to hire, and who to enjoy this pristine terrain with :)
The target Ridge contains 22 cirques; they are north facing, and relatively close to the Town. Each cirque contains at least 3 couloirs to ski; it will not be possible to ski all of them, they average 800 vertical feet, some are longer, some are shorter. Most start at 50 degrees, some are even steeper at the top. Out of those 100 couloirs, we had first descents on 2 in 2022. Very few others (if any) have been skied before. The project is to map all of them, name them, describe the best approaches and shoot a wonderful movie!
The highest summit in that range is 2,700 meters (~ 9,000 feet). It's not that high, however in east Kazakhstan winter sets in mid-november; which means that by end of november it's possible to find 2 meter (6 feet) snowpacks already. It generally snows consistently until christmas; and the temperature often drops to -30 celcius (minus 20 farenheit). While ski touring this is completely manageable, except for the photographer who needs to be mentally prepared! haha.
Located in cirque #1, we attempted this couloir in the first days of December 2022. The snow was excellent, and it made for an amazing descent. The top of more than 50 degree steep, then it mellows to about 45 about halfway down. Avalanche conditions were tested and stable.
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Location between cirques 0 and 1, we went to recover a crashed drone after skiing down Zoya Peak a few days prior. When we located the drone, this tight little couloir stared at me and I couldn't resist going up; it made for excellent shots!
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There are over a hundred couloirs to ski, here are just a few examples from pictures we took during our last expedition
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Martin Legris martin.legris@gmail.com +1-514-574-3982 |